Pastor's Pen

And on the following day they entered Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends.  (ESV) Acts 10:24             Acts 10 records for us Peter’s proclamation of the gospel to the Gentiles.  This follows…

            Today at 1:30PM CST, the PCA General Assembly will be called to order in Dallas, Texas.  Connie and I are here for this gathering.  It is scheduled to last until noon on Friday and we are to return Friday…

            As I write this, we have finished two days of VBS and are into our third here at HLPC.  Over 115 kids have been a part of “The Incredible Race.”   This curriculum focuses on the gospel message and how…

Connie and I spent Memorial Day weekend with the Grad and Career group from First Presbyterian Church of Macon as I was invited to speak for their retreat at Panama City Beach, FL.  I was encouraged to be asked to…

            One of the benefits of being a Reformed University Fellowship (RUF) Campus Minister years ago was receiving training for that ministry ministry.  Mark Lowery and James “Bebo” Elkin laid the foundations for the philosophy of ministry for the PCA’s…

            This Thursday, May 2nd  is designated as the National Day of Prayer.  We have already planned to meet for prayer TONIGHT, May 1st, at 6:3oPM here at HLPC.  We will give special attention to praying for our country, among…

Greetings from Twin Lakes             This week I’m attending a conference for pastors held at Twin Lakes Conference Center which is just south of Jackson, MS.  Kevin Deyoung is the main speaker.  These few days provide a great opportunity for…

Make the Most of the Week!             We look forward to a great week here at HLPC.  I hope you’ll make every effort to come to our worship services and be encouraged to invite friends and bring family.  While we…

And he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more…

=             I was recently reading in Luke’s gospel of the story of Jesus casting out the demon possessed man who lived in the country of the Gerasenes.  This story is found in Luke 8:26-39 (it’s also found in Matthew…

            I am amazed at how many businesses now crave our responses to surveys.  Grocery stores, restaurants, hotels, you name it- all want to know how we liked our stay or what services we found beneficial.  They offer incentives to…

            This past Sunday after our AWOL gathering I reviewed our purpose and desires as a church.  We’ve come to call that “getting re-blued” – borrowing from an Air Force expression that describes recommitting yourself to an Air Force way…

Hope You’ll Be Here!             This Sunday we are having our monthly AWOL lunch (After Worship Opportunity for Lunch).  We have switched them to the second Sunday of the month as it seems many holiday weekends fall on the third…

            Each year the officers of HLPC, the Elders and Deacons, meet for a leadership retreat.  This usually involves a Friday night and Saturday morning together.  We are having just such a gathering this weekend, March 1st and 2nd.            …

            What we are seeing in culture at large is confirmed through statistical analysis:  more couples are living together prior to or instead of marriage altogether.  According to Census Bureau reports the percentage of cohabitating adults ages 25-34 increased from…

            This past weekend we were out of town to attend my nephew’s wedding in south Florida.  It is always good to be with family and we were encouraged by our time.  I’m very happy for my nephew, Roddie, and…

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth…

Looking to Jesus             It’s that time of year again.  It’s time for me to pull out one of my all-time favorite C.H. Spurgeon quotes. Spurgeon, as most of you know, was the longtime pastor of the Metropolitan Tabernacle in…

            Last night the Elders and Deacons of HLPC met for their first monthly meeting of 2019.  Our standard practice is to meet on the 3rd Monday of the month.  Due to MLK, Jr. day we met on a Tuesday. …

            For those who were here this past Sunday for School of Discipleship and/or worship, you heard of a missions trip opportunity for the entire HLPC family that was presented by Andy Pifer.  Andy is the Executive Director and founder…

            2019 is here and with it comes a sense of a fresh start.   Some of the happiest people in January are those that own and manage fitness centers.  This is the harvest season for them as people make their…

            The news we are getting from China is sad and disturbing.  The Chinese government continues its crackdown on churches that are “unregistered”- that is outside of direct government oversight and control.  One such church is the Early Rain Church. …

            I want to give thanks to all who helped make our Christmas Choir Concert and reception a great time of worship, celebration, and fellowship this past Sunday evening.  Thank you to Elizabeth Weiss, our music director, our choir, and…

Like most, if not all of you, as a child Christmas couldn’t get here fast enough. I loved the music, the lights, the break from school, and, of course, the presents. I have many pleasant memories. As the years went…

I am extraordinarily thankful for the week I was able to spend in Medellin, Colombia with the Reformed Seminary of Latin America (Seminario Reformado Latinoamericano or SRL). Last Tuesday through Friday I had the privilege of teaching on the Doctrine…

I’ve just finished my first day of teaching here in Medellin, Colombia. Thank you so much for your prayers! God has answered many of those prayers. My trip on Monday-which started when I woke up at 2:30AM- was thankfully uneventful.…

Today is the 501st anniversary of Martin Luther’s nailing of his 95 theses to the door of the Wittenberg Chapel, in Wittenberg Germany. We mark this day as “Reformation Day” as we look to October 31st as the anniversary of…

The fact that people are hurting is a sad reality. That was driven home this past week as we witnessed the effects of Hurricane Michael on the Florida panhandle, especially Mexico Beach and Tyndall Air Force Base. We have two…

HLPC family, As I write we are on the verge of experiencing a strong storm in Hurricane Michael. The people of the Florida panhandle are bracing for what could be a storm of historical proportions. There is much for us…

To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, Ephesians 3:8 (ESV) This week in my personal Bible reading I read the verse…

One of the benefits of going through hardship and trial is that we are driven to prayer. In my own struggles I have been pushed toward the Psalms as an aid in such prayer. I’ve come to appreciate them more…

Some thank yous are in order… • Thanks be to God for a great Sunday afternoon and for the overcast skies that gave us cooler temperatures. Thanks be to God who is the ultimate source of our resources by which…

Pray for the people in the path of Hurricane Florence- we are all keeping an eye on the hurricane that is scheduled to make landfall late Thursday night/early Friday. Pray for protection for those in the hurricane’s path. We don’t…

Fall is here. Kids are back to their roles as students, college football is underway, and Labor Day is behind us. The only downside for us here in middle Georgia is that we hold on to the summer temperatures for…

It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes. Psalm 119:71 In my recent personal Bible reading I was reading through Psalm 119. This the longest of the psalms and the longest chapter in…

The following items were discussed and approved at Monday night’s Elders’ meeting: • Change is coming! Something will change this week in our order of worship. The Elders have decided its time to let go of our “greeting time” that…

Houston Lake Presbyterian Church is a member church of the Presbyterian Church in America, or PCA. As you might expect, I am in favor of denominations and for a number of reasons. However, I know that today there is a…

I want to encourage you to make our weekly School of Discipleship a regular part of your week. Please don’t be a “90-minute Church member” whose only church involvement is weekly worship from 10:30 to noon (actually, we’re done before…

One of the books I read over my Sabbatical and one that I now list as one of the most helpful I’ve read in some time is the book Rediscovering Humility: Why the Way Up is Down written by Christopher…

It’s great to be back in my office after 4 weeks away for my Sabbatical. I’m very grateful that the church gave me such a great blessing in the gift of time away to recharge and rejuvenate. It was restful…

I am immensely grateful to the Elders and to our church for granting me a month-long Sabbatical that starts next Monday, June 25th and runs until July 23rd. I will be out of the pulpit for four weeks. Drew Archer,…

Several things I want to share and highlight this week: • God is answering prayer for our VBS- we have gotten off to a great start with our largest VBS ever. We thank the Lord for answering our prayers for…

Vacation Bible School is NEXT WEEK. We look forward to having a great team of volunteers along with a crowd of kids here next week. Our theme this year is “Time Lab: Discovering Jesus from Eternity Past to Eternity Future.”…

The older you get, I’ve discovered, the more you have on your mind to keep you awake at night. You wake up thinking about your family, your children, your grandchildren, your job, your health, your church, your country… you get…

Life is all about change. That’s hard to escape. Nothing stays the same. One thing we can’t stop is time and time brings change. That thought has been hitting me hard of late. I feel a bit like the Preacher…

Sometimes we hear concerns from fellow believers about so many Christian denominations. Denominations separate and divide, it is thought. They may create prideful and critical spirits. In fact, there is a rise in non-denominational churches in America. According to LifeWay…

This past Saturday morning the Elders and Deacons of HLPC met to do a “SWOT” analysis of our church and its ministry. This is not the first time we have done this and, Lord willing, will not be the last.…

When I was a child we would often sing a song in Sunday School about Zacchaeus- a man we meet in the gospel of Luke (19:1-10), a place where I was reading just this week. The song went, “Zacchaeus was…

One of the ministries we support is the ministry of Reformed University Fellowship or RUF. RUF is the campus ministry of our denomination, the PCA. Its purpose is to reach students for Christ and to equip them to serve Him.…

I’ve been enjoying my opportunity to lead the adult School of Discipleship as we consider together the material from the book by Paul Tripp and Tim Lane entitled How People Change. If you’ve not joined us yet on Sunday mornings…